AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : McDowell Improves to 7-0 With Victory

Jack McDowell has a couple of extras going for him, and they have helped him get off to the fastest start of any pitcher in the major leagues.

McDowell, a 6-foot-5 right-hander, has everything under control. And his Chicago White Sox teammates score runs in bunches when he pitches.

The 26-year-old from Van Nuys became the first seven-game winner Sunday when the White Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2, at Baltimore.

McDowell gave up four hits and two runs in eight innings. Bobby Thigpen pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

McDowell has walked only seven batters in 55 innings. The White Sox have scored 58 runs for him.

McDowell blossomed last season and had a 17-10 record. He did it while walking an average of three batters per nine innings.

McDowell, who said recently that he isn’t being really tested because his teammates are scoring so many runs, wasn’t happy with this performance Sunday.

“I wasn’t as good as I looked,” he said, although he retired 15 of the first 16 batters. “Overall, as far as getting the outs, it was going fairly easy.

“But mechanically, I struggled on and off throughout the game. I think that showed at the end, because when you start to get tired and your mechanics are off, you fall apart in a hurry.”

McDowell started the eighth inning with a 5-0 lead and a two-hitter. But he walked Randy Milligan and gave up a double to Chris Hoiles before Tim Hulett hit a two-run single.

“It was fairly obvious I wasn’t going real good at this point, so they brought in Bobby for the ninth,” McDowell said. “I was sort of surprised I finished the eighth.”

The Orioles, who are 13-4 in their new park at Camden Yards, had only themselves to blame. They committed three errors, making two of the runs unearned.

Chicago second baseman Joey Cora, who came into the game with one hit in 13 at-bats, scored three runs. He reached base on two walks and was hit by a pitch.

McDowell, who has three complete games and left two games in the late innings with overwhelming leads, lowered his earned-run average to 2.78. He has gone at least six innings in every start.

“They’ve averaged eight runs a game every time I go out there,” he said. “Just to have them score every game is a plus, but I really feel fortunate.”

Boston 10, Kansas City 6--Jack Clark hit a towering blast that barely missed becoming the only fair ball ever hit out of Royals Stadium.

Clark hit his first two home runs, drove in six runs and scored four to raise his .171 average to .205.

In the third inning, Clark hit a changeup by Mike Magnante far over the left-field fence for a three-run home run.

The ball landed on top of a concrete retaining wall enclosing the scoreboard about 440 feet from home plate. The ball bounced 20 feet into the air and came to rest near the base of a fence that encircles the stadium.

“It got there on the bounce,” Clark said, “so where it ended up really doesn’t mean much. I didn’t feel good in batting practice, and I hadn’t been making contact all season.”

Clark’s home run in the sixth inning cleared the center-field wall at the 415-foot mark. He singled home two runs in the first inning and helped the Red Sox take a 9-3 lead.

Frank Viola (4-2) pitched five innings for the victory.

Oakland 5, New York 2--Jose Canseco ended the longest home run drought of his career at 71 at-bats in the sixth inning at Oakland.

Canseco’s seventh home run came with the Athletics trailing, 2-0. Mark McGwire followed with his 15th and, with one on, Mike Bordick hit his first home run, a two-run shot.

Joe Slusarski (3-1) gave up two hits in eight innings. Dennis Eckersley struck out the side in the ninth for his 13th save.

The Athletics have won five in a row. The Yankees have lost six in a row.

Minnesota 10, Cleveland 6--Pedro Munoz hit a three-run home run to highlight a five-run rally in the first inning at Minneapolis and complete a three-game sweep for the Twins.

Kirby Puckett and Chuck Knoblauch each drove in two runs for the Twins. Pat Mahomes walked six batters in 3 2/3 innings. Mark Guthrie won in relief.

Milwaukee 6, Texas 2--B.J. Surhoff, batting only .135, drove in three runs at Arlington, Tex., and the Brewers ended a seven-game losing streak.

Surhoff was one for 17 with men on base when he hit a two-run single with two out during a five-run second inning.

Seattle 6, Detroit 2--Rookie Dave Fleming won his fourth game in a row and the Mariners ended a four-game losing streak at Seattle.

Tony Phillips opened the game with a home run, but Fleming (4-1) gave up only five other hits in six innings.

Henry Cotto hit a three-run home run for the Mariners.